The three biggest ISPs in Britain have all agreed to lower their charges to customers who cancel their contracts early. Of course, this wasn’t a collective altruistic decision, but rather, they did after regulators put the thumb-screws on them.

In the past, BT, TalkTalk and Virgin Media have made subscribers pay full (or thereabouts) for every month left on their contract in order to release them early.

However, from October (June 1st for TalkTalk) they will all charge you much less if you want to jump ship. With some packages the difference will be as much as 85 per cent less.

What we’re looking at here is, for example, if you want to cancel your deal with TalkTalk’s Essential home phone and broadband package, you would have had to cough up £33.48 for each month left on your contract. Now, if you want to break the deal, it’ll set you back £8 per month. Much more reasonable.

Ofcom have been on at the ISPs for over a year in getting them to cut cancellation charges, being of the opinion that providers were breaching their obligations under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contract Regulations 1999. Read Ofcom’s findings here.

[Reg]

A couple of Virgin Mobile customers (thanks to avid readers Andrew and Toby) have tipped us off to the network’s changes in pricing for local and national calls from 28 June. Customers have been receiving texts pointing them to this online statement:

A quick check against the current standard charges shows these changes to be an increase of 60 per cent:

We’ve been asked if these changes are grounds for customers to cancel their contracts free-of-charge; the answer is yes, but only in specific instances. Here are the relevant clauses from Virgin Mobile’s Terms of Service for Pay Monthly customers:

5.3 Significant changes: We will notify you at least one month in advance of any change coming into effect that (in our reasonable opinion):

(b) is a change to your Agreement, your Contract Allowance, the Services or any Additional Services you are using, or to the Charges for any Services or Additional Services you are using, which is likely to be of material detriment to you.

5.4 Non acceptance of changes: If you do not accept a change that falls within clause 5.3 you may cancel this Agreement by writing to us within 1 month of us telling you about any change, to let us know that you want to cancel.

What this means is if you call local and national numbers enough that the charges you pay are significant (Ofcom’s rule-of-thumb is 10 per cent of your overall bill), then you have grounds to cancel your contract without penalty. How this is calculated is more open to interpretation; some mobile providers assess your eligibility based on the previous month’s bill, some on the previous quarter.

If you think you might be eligible and want to cancel your Virgin Mobile contract, then be prepared before speaking to customer services. Review your last three itemised bills, and highlight all calls with local and national toll prefixes – there are more of them than you might think, so check the full list here. Add up the charges for all these calls, and if this is more than 10 per cent of your total bill before VAT, you have the right to cancel your contract without paying additional charges.

Have everything to hand when you call customer services, including your bills and the relevant terms of your contract (which you’ll find above). As always, be firm but polite if you choose to cancel; dickish behaviour rarely helps matters. And of course, ask yourself if it’s worth cancelling; check the mobile deals available with cashback on Quidco.

Remember, you only have until 28 June if you want to cancel; after this date, it’ll be assumed you have accepted the changes.

Yesterday we highlighted Vodafone’s dramatic scrapping of their Fair Use Policy for mobile data, and merry hell has been played ever since. The changes to customer contracts will reverse the long standing policy of a ’soft’ 500MB-per-month limit for mobile phone customers, a policy that meant customers weren’t penalised for occasionally straying over that limit, and one had been confirmed in writing on numerous occasions by Vodafone staff.

From 1 June, however, customers will be charged for any and all data usage above 500MB, thereby ending any notion of a Fair Use Policy. The news broke in Vodafone’s own forums on Wednesday; customers weren’t told of the changes to the terms or the new charges beforehand. Vodafone went on to tell customers they had no choice but to accept the changes:

But then at 5pm last night, Vodafone stated the exact opposite on their forums, admitting there would be changes to the core agreement of customer’s policies, and that some may qualify for a refund:

Here are the answers to the questions you’ve raised.

Definition of excessive use?
Excessive use is listed in the current Terms and Conditions and applies for now, but when Out Of Bundle charging is introduced, the terms will be amended and so this won’t apply.

Will I be allowed to cancel my account under Clause 7?
We’ ll be giving you 14 days’ notice before introducing Out Of Bundle charging which complies with clause 7a. You’ll be entitled to end your contract if you can show that the introduction of the new charges has increased your total call and usage charges by more than 10%. This needs to be compared to the same amount of usage in the previous month. You must also write to us within the 14 day window indicating that you want to end your contract. (Address: Vodafone UK, Vodafone House, The Connection, Newbury, Berkshire RG14 2FN).

So let’s take a look at this statement:

The ‘current Terms and Conditions’ mentioned are the Vodafone Your Plan Price Plan Terms we referred to yesterday; these form part of your core agreement with Vodafone, as the terms clearly state – that means they do not govern any additional or ‘out of bundle’ services, but those services bundled into your monthly price plan. It also means that changes to these core terms and services can allow customers to cancel their contract without penalty; something you can’t do if a service is ‘out of bundle’.

Nowhere in these terms is there a ‘definition of excessive use’, although it has been defined in writing by Vodafone themselves on numerous occasions, as we mentioned yesterday. The phrase is only referred to in Clause 27:

27. All Vodafone services offered free or under unlimited subscription are subject to our Fair Use Policy. If, in the reasonable opinion of Vodafone, your use is excessive, we may ask you to moderate your usage. If, after we have asked you to moderate your usage, you fail to do so, we reserve the right to:

(a) charge you for the excessive element of your usage at your price plan’s standard rate;

What Vodafone said in yesterday’s statement is that the ‘terms will be amended and so this won’t apply.’ In other words, they are going to remove an entire clause from the contract you agreed – the Fair Use Policy – which represents a significant and material change to your core agreement.

Next, when should Vodafone have told you this? According to them, they can give you 14 days notice of the change, and refer you to Clause 7a in the Pay Monthly Airtime Terms – another core part of your agreement with them. In fact Vodafone have been selective in their quotation of the terms, because a closer look at Clause 7 reveals:

7 Changing charges and terms
a We may change our charges or introduce new charges. If we increase our charges, we will give you at least 14 days’ notice and you may have a right to end this agreement under clause 11. If we believe any change in our charges will not disadvantage you, we may include it without telling you.

b We can make changes to or withdraw services at any time and we can make changes to or introduce new terms to this agreement at any time. We will give you at least 30 days’ notice of these changes if we do and you may have a right to end this agreement under clause 11.

Vodafone are introducing mandatory data charges, so they’ve chosen to interprete their own terms to mean they can give you 14 days notice. However they’ve already admitted they’re changing the terms of your core agreement in order to introduce these charges; “changes to… terms to this agreement” require 30 days’ notice according to 7b, and therefore by not telling customers (the only announcement has been in an online forum so far, for changes due on 1 June) Vodafone are in breach of contract.

Finally, let’s look at the relevant sections of Clause 11:

11.2. You may end this Agreement by writing to us if:

(c) we increase your Charges in the UK which have the effect of increasing your total call and usage charges (based upon your usage in the previous month) by more than 10% and you write to us before the increase takes effect; or

(d) we change this Agreement to your significant disadvantage including the change or withdrawal of Services (we will tell you if this is the case) and you write to us within one month of us telling you about the change. This does not apply where the change relates to Services which can be cancelled without termination of this Agreement.

In both statements on the matter (here and here) Vodafone have stated they are ‘introducing Out of bundle charging’ – they’re not increasing charges, they’re introducing them. There’s a question as to whether Clause 7c is even relevant in the first place – it simply does not refer to the ‘introduction of new charges’ as Vodafone states in their latest statement, and instead refers to existing charges you’ve already agreed to as part of your core agreement, charges governed by a Fair Use Policy which didn’t see customers automatically charged for excess data use.

Clause 11d, however, is absolutely relevant – Vodafone are changing your agreement and it will cause a significant disadvantage; Vodafone is restricting your future use of your handset. Without a Fair Use Policy, you can no longer use data on your handset without the possibility of being forced to pay an additional amount or having to curtail your usage. You won’t be able to use data-intensive applications that may mean occasionally using more than 500MB, like Spotify or Google Maps Navigation, or any similar apps released between June and the end of your contract, which in some cases is 23 months away. The difference between the occasional use of additional data and wholescale abuse has until now being distinct, a distinction embodied by a Fair Use Policy and repeated by Vodafone staff over and over again.

So to be clear what’s happening here; Vodafone are attempting to remove a key clause from your contract, without your consent, thereby removing all the benefits that clause has previously allowed, without your consent, and replace it with mandatory charges, after breaching their own contract by not providing the agreed amount of notice. The statements they have released, and those made on Twitter yesterday, are incorrect by the letter of their own terms.

Of course Vodafone need to consider all their customers and manage data usage in a fair manner. But why do this to exisiting customers? Why not introduce the changes for new customers and move on? If you’ve dealt with Vodafone concerning this matter, let us know how you got on, and we’ll look into escalating matters further.

The ongoing saga concerning T-Mobile has taken a surprising twist today. For six weeks we’ve highlighted T-Mobile’s refusal to deal fairly with customers, with regards to the service provider’s massive increases in the cost of international roaming. The charges form a legitimate part of a customer’s contract, but T-Mobile deliberately excluded them from the clauses allowing the right to cancel without penalty – even if they caused material detriment.

Ofcom has today told Bitterwallet that T-Mobile is wrong to do so, in that customers who are likely to suffer material detriment as a result of these increases should be offered the right to cancel without penalty.

On Friday we published correspondence between T-Mobile and Ofcom, which indicated they supported the consumer’s right to cancel without charge in this matter. We contacted Ofcom for clarification concerning this and their ongoing investigation:

Bitterwallet: When is Ofcom likely to conclude their deliberations and determine whether an investigation is required?

Ofcom: Ofcom has been monitoring complaints and has discussed the issue with T-Mobile. T-Mobile have confirmed to Ofcom that if customers feel that they are genuinely affected, to their material detriment, by the increase in certain roaming charges then they should call T-Mobile to discuss their account. Customers should ask that their inquiry be escalated to a Customer Service Manager who will discuss the available options. If customers are not content with the outcome of those discussions they can use the Dispute Resolution Scheme. T-Mobile is a member of CISAS.

On this basis we do not intend to open an investigation into T-Mobile on this issue.

Bitterwallet: What is meant by the final line of the statement (published here)? It indicates that Ofcom believes if the changes cause will impact on a customer’s bill, then T-Mobile cannot hold them to the existing terms and conditions.

Ofcom: It is our view that if the increased roaming charges are genuinely of material detriment to a consumer then under General Condition 9.3, T-Mobile should inform the Consumer of the ability to terminate the contract without penalty. If T-Mobile and the customer are in dispute over whether or not the increase in charges is of material detriment, then the customer can use the Dispute Resolution Scheme.

So Ofcom have determined T-Mobile should have offered the right to cancel without penalty, but also decided there will be no investigation into the service provider’s actions. What does that mean?

First, Ofcom is saying that if you will suffer material detriment – if your bill will increase as a result of the new charges – then T-Mobile should have given you the right to cancel. How do we define material detriment? That’s a little trickier – Ofcom told us “there is no set percentage to determine “material detriment” – it is assessed on the particular circumstance of each case.”

That’s very unhelpful, but because it’s so ambiguous we’d suggest it allows two ways to prove the new charges affect you:

• have you been abroad in the past three months? Check your bills – if 10 per cent (or more) of the total call charges are as a resulting of roaming charges, it’s reasonable to assume you will suffer material detriment in the future (we’re suggesting 10 per cent because this is an unofficial figure that has been suggested by Ofcom and other service providers to customers in the past)

• have you made plans to travel abroad in the next three months, or for a significant amount of time while under contract? If so, it’s reasonable to assume the new charges will be of material detriment to you

Follow the procedure as stated by Ofcom above, since T-Mobile have told Ofcom they will follow it. If T-Mobile refuse to resolve the issue then contact CISAS for arbitration. Include copies of your bills or travel arrangements that prove the likelihood of material detriment in the future, and a copy of this post too. Therefore, you’re providing a) proof of likely material detriment and b) a statement from Ofcom stating that T-Mobile should have offered the right to cancel without penalty in this particular instance. We’re not sure how CISAS can rule against you in this situation since Ofcom has clarified its position concerning T-Mobile, but no doubt we’ll be surprised. Let us know the outcome – we’d be interested to know what To-Mobile or CISAS define material detriment.

The second point is fundamental to this whole affair: according to Ofcom, T-Mobile should have informed customers of their right to cancel without penalty. But did they? Since material detriment is wide-open to interpretation, how did T-Mobile interpret it? In other words, were there any customers informed of the increased charges and their right to cancel?

Our posts on this story has received several dozen emails and several hundred comments over the past two months, and we don’t recall anybody who mentioned this happening. Perhaps nobody at all had travelled or worked abroad recently, but that’s very unlikely. Ofcom refused to clarify whether T-Mobile had notified customers, stating “the substance of our discussions with T-Mobile is confidential”.

So it’s over to you – have you travelled abroad in recent months, and have roaming charges account for 10 per cent of your recent bills? If so, did T-Mobile contact you? At the moment, judging by all of your comments and emails, we can only conclude that nobody was informed of their rights by T-Mobile, that T-Mobile refused customers with valid reasons for cancellation of their right to do so, and that T-Mobile broke Ofcom’s General Conditions – in which case, the regulator should reconsider opening an investigation.

While covering Orange’s attempts to change your contract, we also published a post about how you could cancel your Virgin Mobile contract for similar reasons. Bitterwallet reader Steve got in touch to tell us about changes Virgin Mobile are making to pay-monthly customer terms. Looking through the changes, they’re likely to effect most customers – in essence, if you call landlines or other Virgin mobiles, or make any other calls that less than a minute, then you’re going to pay more than you originally agreed to when you signed the contract.

Here’s the email that was sent to Steve, that every Virgin Mobile customer should have received:

Is this an opportunity to cancel your Virgin Mobile contract? Yep. Virgin’s terms and conditions mention material detriment (i.e. your bill is likely to increase as a result of these changes) which is subtly different to Orange’s terms, which didn’t. That said, the changes are so fundamental they’re bound to effect you. Short of leaving your phone permanently switched off, you’re probably going to be worse off:

• Call any landline or Virgin Mobile number and calls will cost 20p per minute at all times, instead of 15p per minute for the first five minutes of the day, and 5p per minute after that – so a call that lasts two minutes will cost 40p instead of 30p, a six minute call will cost £1.20 instead of 80p and a 10 minute call will cost £2 instead of £1.

• Make any calls to any landline or mobile number lasting less than a minute, and you’ll pay for a full minute rather than the actual duration of the call

What to do next

Here are the particular Virgin terms and conditions relevant to your situation. Have a read through so you’re aware of what you agreed with Virgin:

2.2 Minimum Term: This Agreement will continue for at least the Minimum Term although you may cancel it during the Minimum Term in accordance with Clause 10.

10.2 Your right to cancel: You may end this Agreement immediately in the following circumstances:

(c) if you do not accept any change that we notify you about in accordance with clause 5.3 and you notify us in accordance with clause 5.4 that you do not accept such change.

5.3 Significant changes: We will notify you at least one month in advance of any change coming into effect that (in our reasonable opinion):

(b) is a change to your Agreement, your Contract Allowance, the Services or any Additional Services you are using, or to the Charges for any Services or Additional Services you are using, which is likely to be of material detriment to you.

You’ll have a better chance of cancelling your contract if you a) know the relevant terms and conditions (which you do, because they’re above) and b) go through your last three bills and are aware of several examples per month of calls which will cost more once the new price structure begins – so any calls to landlines or Virgin mobile numbers of any sort, or to landlines or mobiles that last less than a minute. By doing this you’ll have clear proof, based on your billing history, that the new prices are likely to be of material detriment to you.

Judging by the comments in the original thread, readers are finding it far easier dealing with Virgin Mobile customer services than they ever did with Orange.  One recurring trend is that customers are being told they can’t cancel until the date of the changes in September. This is incorrect – as clause 10.2 states, it’s your right to cancel immediately once notified of the changes; more importantly, if you don’t inform Virgin Mobile within 30 days of being notified, it’ll be assumed you accept the changes and your right to cancel will be void.

Above all else remember to be polite and calm with operators at all time – treat them with disrespect and you’ll probably find that any goodwill and helpfulness suddenly dries up. As before, support other readers by telling us how you get on. Good luck!

After a rollercoaster couple of weeks, an interesting footnote has been added to the saga of Orange attempting to change their out-of-bundle call charges, but ultimately backing down after so many customers took the opportunity to cancel their contract. There are now reports on industry websites that suggest Orange customers weren’t the only ones to take advantage of the situation; third party retailers, including Carphone Warehouse, are said to have turned the loophole to their advantage to boost their own sales figures.

According to Mobile News:

“…a number of retail staff in retailers such as Carphone Warehouse have been using this as a way of getting customers to cancel existing contracts, and then re-signing them to a new contract on a different network. Thus giving the sales person an extra new contract to their sales target and the customer a brand new handset.

One Carphone Warehouse staffer said: “I had a call from another store telling us we could cancel Orange contracts and it turned out to be true. Since we found out we have been using it as a way of getting new business and so have many other stores.”

And again at What Mobile:

A forum member, ‘Simax’ who works for Orange posted on our forum: “What also amused me was the amount of dealers who were advertising the loophole. Some of who took out a few contracts at the end of last month who now cannot cancel. Not only naughty in the first place, but serves them right!”

If that’s the case, Orange will no doubt be examining their dealings with Carphone Warehouse and other third parties over the past three weeks, to determine which of their trusted retailers tried to screw them into the ground.

As promised, here is the statement from Orange concerning their decision not to proceed with planned changes to call charges. Orange has also confirmed on MSE that customers that have requested their PAC code “will still get it”, meaning if you had already confirmed your cancellation and requested to transfer your number to another provider, the cancellation still stands:

“Orange recently decided to make changes to contract customers’ call charges for out-of-bundle minimum call rate, international calls from the UK and pay-as-you consume data browsing.

However in listening to our customers it became clear that some of them found the messages sent to announce these changes confusing about who would be affected and how. This is obviously not our intention and therefore we have decided not to go ahead with the proposed changes.

It is normal practice for businesses to make pricing changes, and whilst we clearly cannot rule out any future changes we know that transparency and consistency in our policies is extremely important to our customers. Orange apologises to those customers who found the messages unclear and any subsequent misunderstanding this has caused. We will be reviewing all policies and procedures for price changes to make sure that they are clearer in future.

Orange always strives to deliver the best communications and we hope that these steps will overcome any confusion and frustration that our customers felt.”

UPDATE 1006: We’ve just spoken to Orange’s press office – there’s a full release due to be sent to us in the next few minutes, but in the meantime we can confirm that in cases where Orange have already agreed to a cancellation, these will still stand. Anybody who has requested a PAC code will be informed that the changes will not be going ahead, but will still be free to cancel.

Orange have apologised for “any frustration and confusion” that customers have experienced, and we’ve also been told Orange are carrying out a full review of customer service procedures to ensure future customers aren’t treated in the questionable manner reported by dozens of Bitterwallet readers.

In the past three weeks, Bitterwallet has received thousands of comments and emails concerning Orange’s attempts to increase their charges on out-of-bundle minutes. You called their customer service reps in your droves, and amongst it all suffered inconsistencies and bare-faced lies from many of their operators.

And while we’re delighted to hear that our posts picking apart their own Terms of Service have secured new readers amongst Orange’s senior management and at Ofcom, it’s been staggering to see how many of you refused to accept changes made to your contract without permission, and fought for your right to cancel.

It’s your actions that last night forced Orange management into a meeting where they agreed to abandon the proposed increases. The Executive Office has confirmed that “a business decision was made” and that “further to feedback from several customers, Orange has decided not to go ahead with the proposed changes – Orange appreciates these changes were not communicated as well as they could have been.”

Orange aren’t admitting the charges were unfair, which is what the feedback surely reflected, but that their introduction was poorly communicated – regardless, consumer power has brought about some positive change. We’re now attempting to clarify Orange’s position concerning contracts they’ve already agreed to cancel – their press office have failed to provide any statements to us in the past week, but this is important stuff so we’ll try and get some answers. In the meantime if you have any information, let us know at bitterwallet@gmail.com.

[Image courtesy of TheGiantVermin]

UPDATE: ToS rollback now confirmed by Orange executive and press office. Existing cancellations will stand. Read it here.

In the last hour, we’ve received information from two individual sources that Orange has decided not to push through the proposed changes to its Terms of Service. If this is the case, then the new charges due to begin in September will not be introduced, and customers will no longer have grounds (as Orange’s current terms and conditions suggest) to cancel their contracts.

We’re letting you know because this information has been passed on from two different sources, although it is yet to be confirmed by Orange themselves; we’ll now attempt to verify this with their press office. In the meantime, if you have been told similar by an Orange representative in the past hour or can provide a source of official information, please get in touch at bitterwallet@gmail.com.

UPDATE: Orange has now scrapped the ToS change following consumer upset and cancellations. Existing cancellations will stand. Read full update and official statement here.All day, we’ve been receiving emails and reading comments concerning your attempts to cancel your Orange contract. Tomorrow, we’ll be providing you with a more definitive guide detailing what action to take if your efforts have so far proved unsuccessful. Until then, the Bitterwallet team has been digging through consumer law to ascertain where you stand.

That said, this post shouldn’t be taken as legal advice for your particular situation, nor is it a substitute for the real thing. As with everything we’ve posted so far, this is general information. We’re not lawyers or solicitors, and despite what we might tell you when we’re drunk, we’re not pilots or porn stars either.

Right then. The Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 (UTCCR) apply to unfair terms in contracts concluded between a consumer and a seller of goods or a supplier of services. By the UTCCR an unfair term is one which has not been properly negotiated (such as a standard term) and which, contrary to good faith, causes a significant imbalance in favour of the seller or supplier. Any term which is unfair is not binding on the consumer, but the rest of the contract may continue in operation if it is capable of continuing without it.

Now the interesting stuff. Section 5 and Schedule 2 of the UTCCR sets out a non-exhaustive list of terms considered unfair:

• (i) irrevocably binding the consumer to terms with which he had no real opportunity of becoming acquainted before the conclusion of the contract;

• (j) enabling the seller or supplier to alter the terms of the contract unilaterally without a valid reason which is specified in the contract;

• (l) providing for the price of goods to be determined at the time of delivery or allowing a seller of goods or supplier of services to increase their price without in both cases giving the consumer the corresponding right to cancel the contract if the final price is too high in relation to the price agreed when the contract was concluded;

We think customers have a good argument that the new minimum charges applying to all calls from 14 September 2009 that exceed their call plan allowance are unfair under the terms of these regulations. The change occurred after the contract, no valid reason is given, the final price is high. And this is not a severable part of the contract, it actually goes to the very heart of it. These regulations are clear that if that if the price is increased, then a corresponding right must be given to allow the consumer to cancel the contract. This right to cancel must also be fair – and so have been bought to the consumer’s attention before the contract was concluded – and so cannot now be unilaterally amended or added to, or be given an unnatural interpretation.

There are also concerns with regards to the Unfair Contract Terms Act of 1977 and the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, but we need to you stay alert for the next bit.

With regards to Orange’s Terms of Service:

The clear language of clause 15 entitles you to terminate on a change in charges if excessive in accordance with clause 4.3, provided you do so within 1 month of being told of them.

The clause refers to Charges – not Service or Price Plans – so on its very face the right to terminate applies to Out of Service Plan Charges. These minimum charges apply to all calls from 14 September 2009 other than service plan calls. These ordinary calls are not severable from the services as a whole and we certainly don’t think they fall within the definition of Additional Services. Obviously we’re of the opinion that the increase is excessive and is a change to your detriment. Only a court can say so definitively however.

Arguably even those still within their Minimum Terms can cancel, without having to pay the total remaining monthly charges to the end of the notice period. It’s not entirely clear from the language of the contract however and there is a risk that a claim might still be made for damages for termination or breach (i.e. the usual termination charges under clause 4.2). Only a court can finally determine the correct interpretation.

Finally, you don’t ever need anyone’s consent to terminate a contract. You can always terminate a contract and stop your direct debit by informing your bank. The issue is whether or not you will be liable for damages for breach, and that depends on the contract language. If you terminate and Orange does not agree to it, then they may claim damages for breach – usually any standard monthly charge to the end of the notice period or until the end of any Minimum Term less a rebate for early payment.

And relax. Got that? Good. More tomorrow.

UPDATE 12/08: Orange has now scrapped the ToS change following consumer upset and cancellations. Read full update and official statement here.

UPDATE 10/8: Ofcom have now responded to Bitterwallet’s request for a statement on the current situation. You can read it here.

What’s going on, then? Can you cancel your Orange contract or not? By their own terms and conditions, the answer is yes. If you call them however, the answer will be yes, maybe or absolutely not – although this may change throughout the duration of the call. There’s no consistency in the reasons given either way. The whole thing is a mess and Orange are tying themselves in knots as they try to fob off their customers.

We’ve spoken to the Executive Office at Orange, and were told that customers must be eligible under specific criteria if they wish to cancel, although the office wasn’t aware of what the criteria were. They said the retentions department are working off a spreadsheet that states whether a customer is eligible or not. When we asked where these criteria were recorded in the customer contract or Orange’s Terms of Service, we were told they weren’t, although that we should be aware that while customers are eligible to cancel under the terms and conditions (!) Orange are simply raising their call charges in line with other networks.

So on the one hand customers are eligible to cancel, but on the other it’s only if Orange wants to let them. That pretty much sums up where we are at the moment. We’re waiting to hear back from Orange for an official statement, and we’ve also asked Ofcom to comment too, given that operators are telling customers that Ofcom have rubber-stamped the changes.

We’ll let you know when we hear back from either one, but in the meantime there is action you can take now. If you want to cancel but have so far been refused, please take note:

• it’s approximately three weeks since Orange first began advising customers of the changes. As per their terms and conditions, after 30 days it will be presumed that customers accept the new charges. Even if you haven’t been successful in cancelling your contract, you should formally state you refuse to agree to the new terms. Bitterwallet reader Lewis Roberts sent a great email to Orange (more below) – use this as your template and send it via this page on their website. Also send a copy to executive.office@orange.co.uk and customer.services@orange.co.uk, and by registered post to Orange Customer Service, Correspondence Department, PO Box 10, Bristol, BS32 4BQ.

• if you’re getting nowhere with customer services, call Orange’s executive office on 08000 790 134. Explain that regardless of your current usage, the changes Orange are making are outside of your plan, therefore you have a legal right to cancel and you are formally stating your refusal to accept the new Terms of Service. The customer service team here cannot help you – they’ll refer you to the retentions department – but it means you are formally stating your refusal to agree to the terms (thanks to Kernal). As always, remain calm and polite.

• call Ofcom’s advisory team on 020 7981 3040 or 0300 123 3333. They will only offer advice on the matter, give you a reference number and most likely refer you to CISAS – an independent dispute resolution service. Regardless, register your complaint with Ofcom – they are more likely to investigate the matter if they feel there is a widespread issue.

• if you have the time and inclination, you can ask Orange what’s going on via Twitter. They may not repsond, but it again raises the profile of the issue.

Meanwhile, here are four questions we’d like Orange to answer:

Why did an Orange spokesperson go on the record and say all customers have the right to cancel?

Orange seemingly has a very short memory. Mobile News reported on this story at the end of July, which included this quote from an Orange spokesperson:

“Orange has increased its minimum call charge from 5p to 15p. So what this means is that if you go over your inclusive minutes, the first minute is now 15p and any other minute of that same call is as per your current out-of-bundle rates.

“Whilst our terms and conditions do allow customers to terminate their contract as a result of this change, we are confident that the majority of our customers will not be affected by this because of the nature of their talk plans and their usage.”

So let’s be clear on this: an Orange spokesperson told the press the majority of customers will not be affected because of their usage, but that the terms and conditions allow them to terminate their contract as a result.

We’ve spoke to Mobile News, and the quote is solid – these are Orange’s own words. Are they attempting to reverse course because the changes have been highlighted by the likes of Bitterwallet and MSE, and so many people are attempting to cancel?

(more…)

UPDATE 12/08: Orange has now scrapped the ToS change following consumer upset and cancellations. Read full update and official statement here.

So this whole Orange cancellation thing then – here’s the latest.

A couple of weeks ago, we revealed that Orange customers had a cast-iron way to get out of their pay monthly contracts after the company had increased some of their call charges.

Hundreds, possibly thousands, of Orange customers took advantage, word got around and the whole thing began to snowball. A few questions about how to cancel arose, and so Paul came up with a troubleshooting guide. Our comments sections began to swell as you followed the instructions and gave us feedback on how it was working for you.

The days rolled by and more and more tales of successful cancellation followed and all was good. Then, towards then end of last week, things changed dramatically. Orange have started to reject some customers’ requests to cancel, saying that their legal team have told them they’re not eligible, because they don’t go over their monthly minutes allowance and they don’t make 0870 calls, the areas where the price changes are being actioned.

They’re also telling customers to make a complaint to Ofcom if they’re not happy, which sounds like fobbing off in the extreme. A case of telling you to make a noise somewhere else, through a procedure that’s trickier and more daunting than just picking up your phone, calling Orange and quoting a contract before getting your PAC number.

To us, this new approach from Orange sounds like complete and utter bollocks. Just because you haven’t encroached beyond your minutes or made an 0870 call YET doesn’t mean that you won’t in the future. Orange are deviating from the contractual agreement you both made when you signed up with them and now they’re trying to tell you that you have to just shut up, sit still and swallow a price rise whether you like it or not.

We’ll be spending the day trying to get a reaction to Orange’s shift in tactics from cleverer people than ourselves and hopefully the picture will become clearer over the next 24 hours. Either way, we’re certain that this isn’t over yet, and if you’re a disgruntled Orange customer looking for way out of your contract, we’ll do everything we can to help you make it happen.

Keep watching the skies, people.

UPDATE 12/08: Orange has now scrapped the ToS change following consumer upset and cancellations. Read full update and official statement here.

Over the last fortnight we’ve explained why you can cancel your Orange contract, and how to go about doing it. Armed with this information, Bitterwallet reader Scott phoned up to do just that. As you’ll hear, despite the Orange operator telling Scott the changes to their Terms of Service will directly affect him, he’s not allowed to cancel his monthly mobile contract until he receives a text (which… um… confirms he’s directly affected… again).

This means Orange are deliberately ignoring their own Terms of Service over how you receive information from them. Here’s what happened when Scott called:

As we’ve said, it seems are Orange are staggering the texts they send in order to deal with the demand to cancel. That said, cancellation is not dependent on receiving the text, as we explained in our trouble-shooting guide last week. If you signed a monthly contract before June (we don’t have an exact cut-off date) then you’re eligible to cancel, whether you receive a text or not. Read our trouble-shooting guide for all the information.

This is a brilliant effort by Scott, who keeps completely calm throughout – let’s see what happens in part two.

Yesterday we told you how Orange were making substantial changes to their basic mobile charges that allowed customers to cancel their Orange contracts. There’s a flurry of activity in the comments section, and we’ll bring you a round-up of what’s happening later in the week.

Meanwhile Bitterwallet reader Steve let us know that Virgin Mobile are also planning changes to their call charges for pay-monthly customers. Customers have been emailed the following notification:

Is this an opportunity for Virgin Mobile customers to end their contracts early? We’ve had a pick through Virgin Mobile’s terms and conditions for contract customers:

2.2 Minimum Term: This Agreement will continue for at least the Minimum Term although you may cancel it during the Minimum Term in accordance with Clause 10.

10.2 Your right to cancel: You may end this Agreement immediately in the following circumstances:

(c) if you do not accept any change that we notify you about in accordance with clause 5.3 and you notify us in accordance with clause 5.4 that you do not accept such change.

5.3 Significant changes: We will notify you at least one month in advance of any change coming into effect that (in our reasonable opinion):

(b) is a change to your Agreement, your Contract Allowance, the Services or any Additional Services you are using, or to the Charges for any Services or Additional Services you are using, which is likely to be of  material detriment to you.

This contract is subtly different to that of Orange; whereas Orange clearly stated that a customer could cancel if their rights were detrimentally effected, Virgin are stating there is only a case for cancellation if such changes have a detrimental effect on how much you pay.

So where does this leave you? Well, if you call just a handful of landline numbers every month, you’re going to be far worse off – your first ten minute conversation of the day will double in price, from £1 to £2. And if you make a handful of short calls a month, you’ll be paying more than you are now, because any call lasting less than a minute will be rounded up and you’ll be charged for the full minute.

You’ll have a better chance of cancelling your contract if you a) know the relevant terms and conditions (which you do, because they’re above) and b) go through your last three bills and highlight several examples per month of calls which will cost more once the new price structure begins – so any calls to landlines, or to landlines or mobiles that last less than a minute. By doing that you’ll have clear proof, based on your billing history, that the new prices will be of material detriment to you.

Three further points:

• you don’t have to return the handset, despite what the agents may tell you:

2.4 Your handset: This Agreement only covers the provision of the Services by us to you. It does not cover any handsets or other devices you may have received with your SIM or as part of a package, either directly from us or through a third party retailer.

• the contract states that you can only cancel in writing. You can argue that the point and you’ll probably be successful, but be aware you signed an agreement that states:

5.4 Non acceptance of changes: If you do not accept a change that falls within clause 5.3 you may cancel this Agreement by writing to us within 1 month of us telling you about any change, to let us know that you want to cancel.

• the changes don’t come into effect until the 28th September; if you do cancel your contract on the grounds of detrimental change, you probably won’t be released form it until this date.

As always, let us know in the comments below how you get along. Good luck!